US National Security Adviser, John Bolton, said that there is no “timetable” for the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, seemingly contradicting his boss, US President Trump. Bolton insisted that the Syrian Kurds, who fought with the US troops against ISIS, should not be put into “jeopardy” by a US withdrawal. The fear was that Turkey, who regard the Kurds as terrorists, would take advantage of the US withdrawal and attack the US ally. Bolton also noted that ISIS was still a danger, even though President Trump said on 19 December: “Our boys, our young women, our men, they’re all coming back and they’re coming back now. We won”. It is impossible to determine what US strategy in Syria currently is since the pronouncements from Trump and his aides on the matter have been largely inconsistent. Bolton made his comments on a trip to Israel, a close US ally which was rattled by the earlier statements by President Trump. Israel also asked Mr. Bolton to request that the US recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory that was occupied by Israel in the 1967 War against Syria.
The internet was blocked today in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the government warned that election results would be delayed. Many in Congo suspect that the move indicates that the election results are being manipulated. There were many candidates for the national election, but most attention was focused on Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the hand-picked successor to President Joseph Kabila (who has been in power for many years) and Martin Fayulu. Indeed, last Sunday the Catholic bishops in Congo announced that Mr. Fayulu had won the election after they had conducted their own polling of released results. Official results were suupposed to have been released on Sunday, and there are fears that violence may break out. The US has deployed troops to neighboring Gabon in case US citizens need to be evacuated from Congo.
Map of US Counter-terrorism Bases
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